Reading Beoca’s blog about the annual (English) School Uniform Protests I just couldn’t help myself. Despite having written a couple of stories on this theme before I just couldn’t resist. Addiction is a terrible thing isn’t it?
Before I even entered the school yard I could sense the disapproving stares. I had to remind myself that that what I wore was perfectly appropriate. Completely according to the letter of the school rules even if a bit unconventional. Well, at least here and now. History was on my side I reminded myself. Nonetheless, I could feel the sweat on my brow that was not only due to the 80 degree temperature already in the morning. I also reminded myself that I had the full support of my parents. I mean, skirts or pants, that’s just pieces of clothing isn’t it?
As expected I was called to the Headmaster to explain myself. She couldn’t punish me for breaking the rules but she gave me a long lecture about how disappointed she was in me. That I wasn’t a “team player” and that my contrariness eventually would lead me to a bad end. For a moment I wavered but then I got angry at her for trying to make me to conform. Conformity is not how societies evolve. If the stone age kids had listened to their parents we would still live in the stone age! I was proud to be different!
I was sent back to class. I had planned to keep a low profile but the Headmaster had really pissed me off so I put myself forward during the lesson. Not that the teacher looked any less angrily at me but I felt good.
I could take the disapproval of the teachers. I could take the teasing and scorn of my schoolmates. Actually the way they were teasing me was a welcome relief. I just couldn’t take another day of being harassed for my knobbly knees. That’s why I wore long pants instead of the skirt everyone else wore in the heat.
Comments
Why oh Why?
Why, why, oh why didn't I see that coming? After all, I was expecting to see him in a skirt.
-- Daphne Xu
Slow Learner!
You REALLY should know better by now.
Thank you :)
Definitely
Definitely. Especially as it's something I could have come up with, even though I didn't.
-- Daphne Xu
Classic Bru
Short and sweet with an ending that I didn't see coming, but it gave me a good laugh. Well played Bru :)
*big hugs*
Amethyst
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
Thank you [ʒad]
Of course I refer to the comments on "A Cold Fey in Hell" (part 1).
Snerk
That nickname is going to stick, isn't it?
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
Hmmm
Am I to take it BRU that you kneeded to write this story?
Well, upon genuflection, no one else could ACLerate the learning curve to cap it off successfully with such hough class.
This story is a typically rich BRU trouser, to be sure, that doesn't skirt the rules to deliver thigh prose without kneeling to the establishment.
AuP
Difficult to cap that comment
I'll just have to admit that I haven't a leg to stand on so I'll just leg it.
How Long?
Capris would do the trick. Would they fit the dress code?
Sorry, they don't comply with the dress code
Sorry, they don't comply with the dress code.
Besides, while capris not necessarily are close fitting they often are.
No T girl here,
it seems.
Maybe not the protagonist
but perhaps one or more of the other students?
I am assuming this school is
I am assuming this school is coed, since skirts and long pants are both on the dress code.
*Everyone* else is wearing skirts, so in this is world boys wearing skirts isn't news !
However, our hero's knees *are* news, so either it is early in the school year or they have been wearing pants until the heat wave.
But is our hero a boy or a girl, or not ?
More ambiguous than planned
I realised this soon after posting but refrained from doing anything. I wanted to see how long it took before someone noticed the lack of gender/sex identification.
It's interesting how ingrained thought patterns influence us. In my case I normally think of schools as coed since where I grew up all were. Actually, the school I went to was the second oldest coed school in the country, even if it had started out as a girls' school.
In this case, in line with the "trope" this story is based on, the boys started wearing skirts when there was a heat wave. Before that the protagonist had no problems. However, in the name of conformity everyone was expected to follow the norm, and since the temperature called for skirts instead of pants ....
Ah. I understand now. I
Ah. I understand now. I went back and reread a couple of times, becoming more and more worried at my lack of seeing the protagonists gender.
Hugs!
Rosemary
My apologies to you and others
for exposing you to this uncertainty.
I had a boy in mind when writing this story but it doesn't really matter for the story.
Lol! I thought the story was
Lol! I thought the story was great! I thought it was a oy too, but then I just wanted to make sure I was understanding right. I almost ALWAYS do a second read on your stories anyway.
So, making me do a second or 3rd read isn't a problem. I enjoyed it. Lol!
Hugs!
Rosemary
I recognise that my stories are not suitable for casual reading
That is not a bug. It's a feature ;)
Does that mean
If a story of yours makes us cry that it's a water feature that sprung forth from your digital fountain pen?
AuP
You mean something like ...
Hellbrunn Palace?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellbrunn_Palace
And yes, those features DO take you unawares.
Skirts & pants are just clothes
Another clever one Bru. Got me for sure.
Thanks!!
>>> Kay
I think it's hard to argue with that
I mean that skirts and pants are just clothes. Of course you could associate lots of meanings to them. Only thing is that those associations tend to change over time and space.
Thank you for getting me ;)
Never Second Guess a Trickster
This is one of Bru's better gotchus because it seems everyone assumed a lot of things not just one thing.
Most of us assumed it was going to be a boy wearing a skirt. First mistake
Most of us assumed it was a boy. Second mistake. Bru didn't gender identify the actor.
Most of us assumed there was a boy or girl dress code, not a unisex dress code. Third mistake
I'm so happy to read all the comments and realize I'm not the only one with egg on my face. When we finally have the resident joker figured out, she tosses in a sliding curve ball. Never again am I going to be expecting her to jump up out of the cake in her tiniest bikini and yell, "Wrong Party! This is a police raid!"
Hugs Bru, I am NOT borrowing your bikini!
Barb
Life is meant to be lived not worn until it's worn out.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Assumptions, expectations and tropes
Where would I be without them?
So you're not interested in my tiniest bikini, the one I bought in Caracas? Excluding the ribbons the total amount of fabric amounts to some 10-15 square inches (true, I thought).
Edit after having had the possibility to measure the garments: It's actually all of 25 square inchces (excluding various strings).
Only You
Why do I get the feeling this is NOT one of your jokes?
Hugs Sweety,
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Only You
Why do I get the feeling this is NOT one of your jokes?
Hugs Sweety,
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Only You
Why do I get the feeling this is NOT one of your jokes?
Hugs Sweety,
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Barb in a ...
Ewww!!
-- Daphne Xu
Hey Cut me some Slack
But Daphne is right, with age comes a life shift and that doesn't mean retirement or we shoved the kids out the door.And I'll be damned if I can get rid of that extra ten pounds. I can still rock a bikini as long as it's not Bru's. Stop by this summer, I'm usually in a bikini top and denim mini skirt.
Hugs Daphne
Barb
Have fun with life, it's too short to take seriously. I know God has a sense of humor, She made me.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Reminded of...
"The Reluctant Exhibitionist" by Seahawk76 (Fifth Story). Someone at a podium in front of hundreds is about to have a mortifying emergency. Someone else whispers, "Just think of Grandpa Wilson wearing a Speedo."
-- Daphne Xu